Afterlife: A Guided Tour of Heaven and Its Wonders - Swedenborg ...

AFTERLIFE
There are forms of government in the hells as well; for
unless there were, they would not be kept in restraint.
However, the forms of government there are exact
opposites of those in the heavens because they all derive
from selfishness. All people there want to control others
and to be preeminent. They hate the people who do not
agree with them, and use vicious means to get even with
them because this is what selfishness is like. So for them it
is the more vicious ones who hold office, and who are
obeyed out of fear. But more on this later, where I discuss
the hells.
Divine Worship in Heaven
Outwardly, divine worship in the heavens is not unlike
divine worship on earth, but inwardly it is different. Peo -
ple there too have doctrines and sermons and church
build ings. The doctrines agree in essentials, but those in
the higher heavens are of deeper wisdom than those of
lower heavens. The sermons are in keeping with the doc -
trines; and just as they have homes and mansions, they
also have church buildings where the instruction takes
place.
The reason things like this exist in heaven is that angels
are constantly being perfected in wisdom and love. They
have volition and intellect just as we do, and their intel -
lect, like their intentions, is by nature constantly striving
toward perfection—their intellect by means of the truths
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